Ventilated clothes-drier.



No. 703,653 Patented luly 1,1902.

L. r. H. GuNDLAcH.

VENTILATED CLOTHES DRIER.

(Application med be@ 1i, 1901.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

LOUIS F. H. GUNDLAOH, OF MARINER HARBOR, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN E.. EVANS,'OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

VENTILATED cLoTHEs-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,653, dated July 1, 1902.

Application filed October 17,1901.v Serial No. 78,9017. (No nodel.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, LOUIS F. H. GUNDLACH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mariner Harbor, Richmond county, Staten Island, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilated Clothes-Driers, of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in clothes-drying apparatus which is usually placed in the house and is supplied with heat for drying the articles hung therein.

The particular objects of my invention are to provide simple and efficient means for ventilating the drying-compartment and at the same time cooling the parts upon which the articles are hung for drying, and, furtheryto provide a clothes-drier in which the end upright of the sliding rack which constitutes a door or gato for closing the opening in the side of the compartment through which the rack is operated is insulated so as to prevent the exterior air from chilling the compartment or causing a reduction of the temperature of the air within the compartment.

To these ends my invention consistsin the various novel and peculiar arrangements and combinations of the several parts of the apparatus,all as hereinafter fully described, and then pointed' out in the claims.

I have illustrated types of my invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure lis a view-of a section of my'improved drying apparatus, the plane of which section is vertical and passes centrally through one of the sliding racks. In this view the racks are shown as pushed within the compartment, which is thereby closed. Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of a portion of the drying apparatus, including one of the sliding racks and portions of the frame around the openings or doorwaysin the front of the compartment, through which the rack is operated and which are closed by the racks when the same are pushed all the way into the compartment. The central portion of the hanger-bar of the rack in this view is broken away in order to condense the figure Referring to the drawings, in which like 'numbers of reference designate like parts throughout, 2 is a closed compartment, the

interior of which is supplied with heat for drying the clothes suspended therein by means of a pipe 3, which is connected With a suitable heater or stove in a manner well known. A set of horizontally-sliding racks are adapt ed to be moved into and out of the compartment through the opening 4 in the front end of the compartment. These racks are each constructed alike and comprise front and rear standards or uprights 5 and 6, respectively, between which are secured in horizontal position and one above the other a series of horizontal suspending or hanger bars 7. The upper end of each of the standards 5 and 6 is provided with a pulley or wheel 8, which travels on a iixed horizontal track 9 and by means .of which the rack is suspended andis capable of being moved into and out of the drying-compartment 2. The uprights or standards 5 at the forward end of the rack each serve as a door or gate to close the opening in the compartment through Which-the rack is operated, and when the racks are pushed inwardly to their limit the drying-compartment is practically closed at all points against the admission of the outer air except 'at the place where ventilation is provided, as will be hereinafter explained.

In the present construction the front and rear standards. or uprights 5 and G of the clothes-rack are made hollow, and the front one 5 is closed at all points except in the front, near the lower end thereof, Where it is provided with a series of openings 38, each of which is covered by a fiat dust-screen 39, While the back upright 6 is closed at all points except at its upper end, Where it is provided with an opening 40, which is also covered by a flat dust-screen 41. In Athis construction each of the hanger-bars' 7 is tubular and is in communication at its respective ends with the interior of the two Vuprights 5 and 6 in order that the outer air may pass into the opening 38 at the base of the outer standard, circulate through the interior of such standard, and pass thence into and through each ICO ofthe hanger-bars 7, thence to the interior of the back standard 6 and out of the same to the top thereof, where it is emptied into the interior of the drying-chamber 2. These hollow standards are preferably made of sheet metal, which are bent into the desired shape, and the hanger-bars 7 and their fittings coinprise a tubular piece or pipe 2l, having the ends thereof upon the interior formed with a screw-thread 42, which screws into the mouth of a tubular section 43, which extends through the openings 44 and 45 on opposite sides of the hollow standard and is provided near its end with iianges 46 and 47, which bear against the inner face of the two opposite sides of the standard. The outer end of each of the tubular sections 43 is threaded upon the exterior at 47 for receiving a screwcap 48, which closes the end of the section and bears against the outer face of the outer side of each of the standards and serves to clamp such side against the iange 46 on the tubular section 43. Upon each end of the tubular partil,constitutingthehangerbar,is anut49,whichisadapted to beciampedagainst the inner face of the sides of the standards so as to bind the same against the lixed iiange 46 on the adjacent end of the tubular section 43. These tubular sections are each provided in the center thereof with a series of lateral perfor-ations 50 for placing the interior of the same in communication with the interior of the hollow standards. These tubular sections may be inserted in places in the opposite openings 44 and 45 before the hollow `standard is formed into its final shape. For example, the joint 5l at one corner of the hollow standard may not be made fast until these tubular sections 43 have been inserted into their proper places. These hollow standards are made of suitable sheet metal, galvanized iron having been used by me, and the standards may be made of any suitable shape in cross-section and may be ornamented upon the outer face thereof in any desirable manner. By virtue of this arrangement the exterior' air enteringr the base of the outer standard at 38 passes through the same and thence into the perforatious 50 of the tubular section 43, through the interior of the hollow bar 21, thence out of the perforations 50 in the tubular section 43, which are located in the inner standard. It will thus be seen that in addition to the hollow interior of the outer standard serving as a passage for the exterior air to reach the interior of the drying-compartment it also acts as an insulator against the outer air, causing a reduction in the temperature of the air within the compartment, as would be the case if the standard 5 were made solid and without any air-space. The passage of the air from the front standard 5 through the hollow hanger-bars 7 serves to maintain the bars in a cool condition and at such a temperature that the metal thereof will not scorch fabrics when hung thereon for drying.

Around the opening into which the outer standard 5 of the clothes-rack fits when the rack is pushed in I place an angle-iron 52, with the apex thereof pointing outwardly, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and I bevel the edge of the standard 5 at 53, so as to make a snug iit with the face of the angle-iron into which the standard comes in contact. In 0rder to more elfectuallyseal the joint between the standard 5 and the edges of the opening into which it fits, I provide the face of the angle-iron with a layer 54 of soft or yielding material-such as felt, for example.

I wish to be understood as not limiting my invention to the precise forms of construction herein set forth, as various modifications may be made in the different parts thereof without, however, departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of a drying-compartment, a suitable opening in the side of said compartment, a sliding rack adapted to be moved in and out of said compartment through said opening, the said rack comprising a closed hollow front upright having an air-inlet at or near its base, a back upright, and one or more tubnlarsuspending-bars connecting said uprights and communicating with the interior of said front upright and being provided at theirinner ends with means for discharging therefrom the air received through the bars from the front upright, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of a drying-compartment, a suitable opening in the side of said compartment, a sliding rack adapted to be moved in and out of said compartment through said opening, the said rack comprising a closed hollow front upright having an air-inlet at or near its base, a back upright, and one or more tubular suspending-bars connecting said uprights and communicating with the interior of said front upright and being provided at theirinnerends with means for discharging therefrom the air received through the bars from the front upright, each suspending-bar being provided with a tubular member having lateral perforations and fixed across the interior of the said hollow front upright and provided near each end with a iiange for bearing against the interior wall of the opposite sides of said upright, and having the inner end thereof threaded for receiving the thread on the correspond- :ing suspending-bar, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of a drying-compartment, a suitable opening in the side of said compartment, a sliding rack adapted to be slid in and out of said compartment through said opening, the said rack comprising two hollow uprights and one or more horizontal tubular suspending-bars placed between the uprights and having the interior thereof communicat- IOO IIO

ing with the interior of the hollow uprights, the upright at the inner end of the rack being open at its upper end for the exit of the air and the upright at the outer end of the rack being open at its lower end for the admission of the exterior air, the said upright at the outer end of the rack serving also as a door for closing the opening at theV side of the compartment through which the rack is operated, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. f

4. The combination of a drying-compartment, a suitable opening in the side of said compartment, a sliding rack adapted to be slid in and out of said compartment through said opening, the said rack comprising two hollow uprights, the inner one of which is open at its upper end for the exit of the air and the outer one` of which is open at its lower end to admit thereto the exterior air and serving as a door to close the opening through which the rack is operated, a tubular member provided With lateral openings and secured across the interior of eachof said hollow uprights, and a tubular suspending-bar connected at one end with one of said tubular members and at the other end with the other to permit the air to circulate from the interior of one of said hollow uprights through the tubular suspending-.bar into the other hollow upright, substantiallyT as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of a drying-compartment, a suitable opening in the side of said* compartment, a sliding rack adapted to be slid in and out of said compartment through said opening, Ythe said rack comprising two hollow uprights, the inner one of which is open at the upper end for the exit of the air while the other one is open at its lower end for the admission of the exterior air, a tubular member having lateral perforations and fixed horizontally across the interior of each the opposite sides of the upright and having I the'inner end of each threaded, and a tubular suspending-bar threaded at each end and connected by such ends withrthe threaded ends of the said tubular members respectively, whereby the outer air taken in at the lower end of said outer upright may be circulated through the interior of the same, thence through the tubular suspending-bar into the'upright at the rear end of the rack and discharged from the upper end'of said latter upright, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination of a dryingcompartment made of comparatively light material and provided with one or more doorways through which the racks are operated, angleirons 52 fixed around the doorway and `constituting the door frame and acting as strengthening members for bracing the structure, the said angle-irons being arranged with the apices pointing outwardly so as to provide a beveled surface against' which the door closes, .and one or more sliding racks each having at its outer end an upright constituting a door for closing the doorway through which the rack is operated, said door having its edges beveled at 53 to iit against `the beveled surface of the door-jamb for sealing the joints around the door, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset LOUIS F. H. GUNDLAOH.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL M. CHEsNUr, WILLIS FowLnR. 

